What underlies this JavaScript idiom: var self = this?

Question

I saw the following in the source for WebKit HTML 5 SQL Storage Notes Demo:

function Note() {
  var self = this;

  var note = document.createElement(\'d         


        

Answer 1

I think the variable name 'self' should not be used this way anymore, since modern browsers provide a global variable self pointing to the global object of either a normal window or a WebWorker.

To avoid confusion and potential conflicts, you can write var thiz = this or var that = this instead.